Xi Jinping: Ready to Take On ‘Armies of Corruption,’ Paper Says

Combating corruption has emerged as the signature policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s administration since late 2012, and his efforts appeared to kick into high gear in recent weeks when the Communist Party notched its biggest catches.

So it came as a surprise when a newspaper this week reported the president apparently used the word “deadlocked” to describe a battle more popularly seen as featuring his triumphs. Mr. Xi reportedly went on to suggest that he will combat “armies of corruption” at the risk of damage to his reputation, or even his life.

“In order to fight against corruption, a person’s life and death, personal praise or blame, do not matter,” the paper quoted him as saying.

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These might not seem to be the comments of a man whose decisions during a brief tenure in office have kept analysts busy calculating how high into China’s pantheon of former leaders Mr. Xi’s might ascend. Which may explain why on Tuesday, the newspaper in Jilin Province’s Changbaishan City that published the report quickly removed the text from its website.

It’s possible that something was lost in translation. The newspaper didn’t quote Mr. Xi verbatim and instead reported on how his message had been delivered late last week to local party cadres by their immediate superiors.

But the report circulated quickly on the internet on Tuesday because it appeared as a rare counterpoint to the froth created by state media in recent days when publicizing the anti-corruption campaign’s apparent successes.

The latest such victory was the news a week ago that the party leadership under Mr. Xi would launch a formal investigation into the once-powerful former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang. That move followed a swipe at another onetime high-level official, a member of China’s military brass who in late June was ousted from the party, former top general Xu Caihou.

In all, the party watchdog Central Commission for Discipline Inspection says it has investigated around 40 officials of provincial and ministerial level or higher since late 2012. The commission says last year it punished more than 182,000 officials, and there’s no sign it has slowed down in 2014. This week, the agency reported that it found real estate-related corruption in almost all of the 21 provinces inspected and it continues to announce fresh targets of its investigations daily.

Perhaps what Mr. Xi meant was that fighting corruption will require more than bagging a few so-called ‘tigers,’ as he’s dubbed the corrupt, high-ranking officials that he aims to expose. As Xinhua put it in a commentary following the news about Mr. Zhou last week that aimed to rally support among party members, “The fight against the problem will be no easy job, calling for greater courage, commitment, exertion and constant vigilance by all members.”

The Changbaishan report also provided an indication from Mr. Xi, and the commission chairman Wang Qishan, of who they are generally looking to scrutinize: cadres whose bad activity is reported by the public, those who haven’t restrained themselves, young leaders with bright futures in the party and others with high aspirations.

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